Michelle Granshaw

Analyzing a pivotal point in theatre history, “The Fight for Desegregation” presents a new history of desegregation, protest, and the theatre. In its exploration of the two decades after the Civil War, this book reimagines theatre’s role in the fight for civil rights as well as the way Reconstruction, civil rights activism, and the white backlash to these efforts shaped US theatre as an institution, a cultural site, and political space. The project traces two intertwined narratives: the emergence and decline of a national, decentralized effort by Black Americans that worked to desegregate US theatres, and how white theatre managers, artists, and audiences fought to reinforce and maintain a theatre institution with its foundation in white supremacy and ultimately succeeded.